“We do not know how Mr. Trump got the ball,” Genco said. “I can’t authenticate the ball from some Twitter picture.” He added: “I can’t speak to how Trump got the ball. Pete didn’t send it. I made that clear.”

How does Genco know?

“Pete has made a point not to ‘endorse’ any particular presidential candidate,” Genco wrote. “Though he respects everyone who works hard for our country — any outlet that misinterpreted a signed baseball for an endorsement was wrong. Pete did not send any candidate a baseball or a note of endorsement. That said, through my discussions with Pete about this cycle, I’ve learned that he believes that who to vote for is a decision each voter should decide for him or herself. Pete knows and has impressed upon me that, above politics, it’s leadership and teamwork [that] make all the difference. Both the left and right are Baseball fans — and it is those institutions and their people that make America exceptional.”

"Why should anyone care who a compulsive gambler of spectacularly bad judgment, who also happened to be a good baseball player, does or doesn't support for POTUS?I'd be lots more interested in what the guys on the back of the garbage truck who just emptied my bin think. "

It is interesting what both think. Much if not all of this is not rational choice. Everyone works off limited information and ends up rationalizing decisions that are not necessarily arrived at through reason.Pete Rose is a lot of things, but he's also a tribal symbol, a "my people" thing. That's a factor.

Then ask your garbage men what they think instead of being a condescending jerk. You're not interested in what they think because you're a snob. You don't want to hear from them at all. And yet you're wondering why Trump is kicking your boy Cruz' ass.